


Eye of the Storm

by jsscallopedpotatoes



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alien Character(s), Alien Culture, Aliens, Alternate Universe - Space, Android Han, Arms Commander Hyunjin, Bad Boy Lee Minho | Lee Know, Bang Chan & Seo Changbin are Best Friends, Communications Officer Seungmin, Crew Captain Chan, Everyone Loves Yang Jeongin | I.N, Flight Pilot Minho, Flirty Lee Minho | Lee Know, Gen, Han Jisung | Han & Lee Minho | Lee Know are Best Friends, Han Jisung | Han is a Little Shit, Han Jisung | Han is a Ray of Sunshine, Han is a robot!!, I wrote this after watching space sweepers, IN SPACE!, Implied Sexual Content, Kim Seungmin is So Done, Lee Minho | Lee Know is a Little Shit, Medic Jeongin, OT8, Outer Space, Seungmin man of many languages, Shy Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Space Explorers, Space storms, Spaceships, Sweet Hwang Hyunjin, They'd all die without him let's be honest, We'll get to Felix later in the story, bang chan best leader, engineer changbin, there might be violence idk yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29635431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jsscallopedpotatoes/pseuds/jsscallopedpotatoes
Summary: The year is 2147, and the UNSA (United Nations Space Agency) has discovered an anomaly in our milky way. A battalion of 30 crews of seven aboard a mothership is sent out to explore, including SKSEC#4419 (South-Korea Space Exploration Crew #4419), led by Crew Captain Bang and his second-in-command Flight Pilot Lee. However, halfway to the anomaly, the mothership starts experiencing trouble, and five crews are sent out to find the cause of said trouble. What they find forces the crews to proceed the mission to the anomaly without to mothership, and oh boy, what they find exceeds any mortal earthly expectations.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Lee Felix & Seo Changbin
Comments: 17
Kudos: 51





	1. 01102147

**Author's Note:**

> Since Nostalgia is so close to done, I think it's time for another WIP!!

### LOG-001

I have decided to start logging. I believe that it will bring me a feeling of peace in these times of change.  


Everything is quiet. It always is here. Our star has long dipped below the edge, leaving all of us in terrifying, suffocating darkness. But we are used to it. For only a small moment every so often, we can see the starlight through the vents in the tunnels. Those periods of time grow smaller and smaller as the storm drifts farther towards us. Soon, I am afraid, we will have no more starlight to guide us. All we have is each other, and the static noise from our comms.

  


### CREW CAPTAIN BANG CHAN

###### SKSEC#4419 (South Korea Space Exploration Crew #4419)

 **Crew Captain: BANG, Chan (M)**  
(03102124, grad. USEA SK 01082143)  
Languages: Korean, English, Japanese  
Graduation eval.: excels in etiquette and physicals  
Best subject: physical examination (1000)  
Worst subject: geography (735)  
Grad. class/class mentor: 4F, PARK Jihyo

**Crew Flight Pilot: LEE, Minho (M)**  
(25102125, grad. USEA SK 01082144)  
Languages: Korean, Japanese  
Graduation eval.: excels in flight classes and physicals  
Best subject: flight (989)  
Worst subject: etiquette (550)  
Grad. class/class mentor: 4F, PARK Jihyo

**Crew Engineer: SEO Changbin (M)**  
(11082126, grad. USEA SK 01082145)  
Languages: Korean  
Graduation eval.: excels in engineering and physicals  
Best subject: mechanics (990)  
Worst subject: English (570)  
Grad. class/class mentor: 4B, LEE Junho

**Crew Arms Commander HWANG, Hyunjin (M)**  
(20032127, grad. USEA SK 01082146)  
Languages: Korean, English  
Graduation eval.: excels in handling of weapons and etiquette  
Best subject: weaponry (890)  
Worst subject: mental prep (660)  
Grad. class/class mentor: 4C, Mark TUAN

**Crew Navigation Officer: H4N J1SUNG (M)**  
(AiDroid Model SND, Apple inc. Korea, 14092146)  
Languages: standard settings Korean, English, binary code  
Graduation eval.: N/A  
Best subject: N/A  
Worst subject: N/A  
Grad. class/class mentor: N/A

**Crew Communications Officer: KIM Seungmin (M)**  
(22092127, grad. USEA SK 01082146)  
Languages: Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, Morse code, sign language, braille  
Graduation eval.: excels in all communications classes  
Best subject: contemporary languages (1000)  
Worst subject: mechanics (450)  
Grad. class/class mentor: 4D, BAE Suzy

**Crew Medic: YANG Jeongin (M)**  
(08022128, grad. USEA SK 01082147)  
Languages: Korean  
Graduation eval.: excels in medical prep and etiquette  
Best subject: medical care (990)  
Worst subject: mathematics (578)  
Grad. class/class mentor: 4F, PARK Jihyo

Chan put down the HiPad he was holding. The holographic screen collapsed, leaving a silverish stick on the table of his living room. He’d gotten the call from UNSA earlier that day, only to find out that he’d be sent out to space for the second time that year, on his fucking birthday of all things. He’d gone in January too, with his old crew. Most of them had retired from exploring since, and were now UNSA on-earth employees. 

Don’t be fooled though, Chan loved going into space. He really did, but he’d barely been home for two months since his trip to the moon, and the next job sounded like it was going to take quite some time until he could come back again. Oh well, it wasn’t like there was anything he could do about it. In UNSA, if you were called on, you reported. 

As soon as they’d sent him the crew profile, he’d looked through it. It wasn’t the best crew he’d ever been in, but it was doable. A few things here and there were suboptimal at the least, but he would manage. One thing that bugged him was the fact that it was an all-male crew. He’d only been in one of those once before, and it had been a mess. (Long story. Don’t ask.) He’d probably have to work hard to ensure peace among the crewmembers. Another thing was the fact that H4N was an android. An Apple AiDroid SND: Artificial Intelligence Android, model Space Navigation Droid. Droids had a tendency to either be a bit ‘too’ perfect, or to just malfunction all the time. But, Chan had never worked with an SND, so he kept hope that maybe it was a decent android.

Minho and Changbin though—he knew them. They’d been on his last crew as well. Minho suffered from a few discipline issues, but he was one of the best pilots Chan knew (not to mention his boyfriend), and Changbin was one of his best friends. Hyunjin could be a problem, since arms officers generally scored higher on mental prep, the whole shoot to kill thing could cause complications. Seungmin… seemed like a smart guy. If he really was as good at languages as the profile suggested, he’d be very valuable as a CCO. Jeongin was young. Some would argue too young. Being sent into space right after graduating was tough for everyone, so Chan was a little worried, but in his extended profile it had said that his mental prep score was quite high, so it’d most likely not be his greatest worry out there.

Speaking of the extended profiles, those were much more interesting. As a first time Crew Captain, Chan had never gotten to look through them before, but now he had the glorious power to read everything about his crewmates, from medical history all the way to complete high school records. He couldn’t wait to tease Changbin about the amount of times he’d gotten detention, which could easily rival Minho’s. (Quite a feat.) Of course, Chan hadn’t carefully read through all of the extended profiles, because 1. they were way too long, and 2. included a lot of personal information. 

He sighed and tugged at his sweatpants, hitching them higher up his hips. In a few days, he’d have to spend most of his time in one of the UNSA uniforms that he didn’t like. He’d have to order a new one to their ship tonight, since his old one hadn’t fit properly in months. Curse his habit of working out. He was gonna miss the soft hoodies and tracksuits that he had on earth. 

Just like every day at noon, Chan’s watch beeped, and the virtual assistant’s voice spoke up. “Schedule for tomorrow: sixteen o’clock, get to know the crew, added by UNSA. Eighteen o’clock, ready the ship, added by UNSA. Nineteen o’clock, dinner with Bam, added by You.”

Fuck. He was gonna have to cancel his dinner with Bambam. Chan pulled up his HiPad again and scrolled through the contacts. He pulled up Bambam’s, and clicked the call button.

“Chan! Wassup bro?!” Bambam’s face appeared on his television by default, filling the room with his smile. “Dinner tomorrow still up?”

“Yeah,” Chan began, “About that… UNSA’s sending me out there again. Tomorrow we’re readying the ships, so I have to be there at six.”

“Oh shit,” Bambam said. A part of his forehead glitched. “How long are you heading out for?”

“I don’t know yet. They said it’s an explore mission because they found some anomaly.”

“Those are long, man. You good?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It just sucks that I have so little time at home.”

“Bet you miss your family, huh.”

“Mhm,” Chan hummed. “So we won’t be able to have dinner tomorrow. You don’t happen to be free tonight, right?”

“Uh, let me check.” Bambam turned away from his screen for a few seconds. “I can come by at seven if you’re good with that?”

“That’s amazing. I’ll see you then.”

“Right! I’m gonna go, because I told Lisa we’d go to the amusement park this afternoon.”

“Have fun!”

“Thanks. See you tonight!” Bambam hung up, effectively making the television screen collapse with the telltale sound of powering down.

Chan took off his hoodie. It was getting warm inside. A small ping from his watch once again caught his attention, this time signaling an incoming message.

“Incoming message from Hwang, H. Do you want me to open the message, sir?”

“Read it out,” Chan commanded.

“Dear Crew Captain Bang,” the assistant said in that choppy voice. “My name is Hwang Hyunjin, and I will be the CAC on your next crew mission. I wanted to contact you before our first meeting, for no particular reason. Just to say hello, I suppose. I look forward to working together, and I hope you do too. Oh, and a quick request, please do not share my medical history with others without my consent. Kind regards, Hwang Hyunjin. End of message.”

“Thank you, Siri.”

“No problem, sir.” She shut off with that stupid little sound that Chan had grown used to hearing. So Hyunjin was looking forward to meeting him. That was nice. He’d never gotten a message from a crew member before flying out on his last missions. To be fair, it was his first time going out as Captain. Hyunjin seemed like a good guy, which was unusual. Call it a stereotype, but most Arms Commanders were pretty explosive people. He didn’t know what the medical history thing was about, but it didn’t make him worry either. First of all, it was illegal to share any official documents without the person’s consent, and secondly, he hadn’t even looked at it himself. He decided to keep it that way.

He picked up the HiPad again and tapped the button that made the screen pop up. It was almost muscle memory, the way his fingers moved across it to pull up messages. After clicking the one Hyunjin had sent him, he began typing something back.

_Dear Hwang Hyunjin,_  
_How nice of you to contact me before meeting! I really appreciate it, and I look forward to working with you as well. I suppose we’ll see each other tomorrow then! Also, don’t worry, I won’t say a word to the others. (Oh, and call me Chan. No need for the ‘Crew Captain Bang’ part.)_  
_Chan_


	2. 02102147

### LOG-002

Today, we will have a short period of starlight. The elders said they’ll allow us to go outside! They said soil on the surface is the same as in the tunnels: that ashy, gray color. It is dry as well, something that the elders say has only been like that for a short time. Though, what they think is a ‘short time’ could be many lifetimes for me or the young ones. I remember being a young one. Now, I have recently passed into the stadium of adulthood. It comes with responsibilities that I am not that fond of tackling, to be quite frank. Especially the pairing up I am not a fan of. Oh well, what is there to do?

  


### CREW FLIGHT PILOT LEE MINHO

A day earlier, Minho’s watch had (not-so) gently woken him up from his nap to announce a crew meeting at four o’clock. Which, for Minho, was fine. It wasn’t like he had anything to do, really. He usually spent most of his time at home, going for walks, painting, caring for his cats, or, on a good day, going on dates with Chan. So yeah, he was happy that they were on the same crew. Not that he’d ever admit it. 

Chan looked hot in his new uniform. (What’s new?) He was standing in line with the other crew captains while waiting for his crewmembers to get called up. Minho would’ve just walked over to him, but he already didn’t have the best reputation in the corps, so he decided to stay in his lane just that one time. Luckily, Flight Pilots were the first group to be called up, so he didn’t have to wait too long until he could go stand behind Chan and rest his forehead between the other’s shoulder blades.

“Flight Pilot Lee!” commanding officer Park’s loud voice boomed. “Straighten up! You get to slack off later! Do not make me eliminate you from the crew!”

With a groan and a roll of his eyes, Minho fixed his posture. “Yes officer!”

“Keep him in check, Crew Captain Bang,” Mr. Park whispered when he passed by. “Flight Pilot Hansen for DESEC#3847, report!”

It went on like that until the crews were finally complete, and sent out to ‘get to know each other’, which basically meant that most of them went to some nearby café to drink non-alcoholic beverages and be boring. Minho was not planning to do that.

“We should go to that pub,” he suggested.

“We’re not going to a pub,” Chan said. “No alcohol for any of you tonight. They’ll be testing before we take off tomorrow, and I’m not risking anything.”

“Boring,” Minho drawled. “C’mon, we can go to the pub and not have alcohol.”

“I am already physically repulsed by the thought of having to spend all my time with you two,” Changbin butted in. “Can we not just go for a walk in the forest and enjoy the time we have left on earth in some kind of nature setting?”

“We have approximately one and a half hours until we need to be back to ready the ships,” H4N said. “Unless you know a forest that we can visit within that time slot, I do not recommend going for a walk in the forest.”

“I like you,” Minho said to the android. “Like I said, we should go to the pub.”

“Going to the pub is highly irresponsible,” H4N continued. “It is an unprofessional environment that will not have a positive effect on performance later tonight or tomorrow.”

“I changed my mind.”

“Where do you guys want to go?” Chan asked the other three. Newbies, Minho noted. He didn’t remember their names. (Look, when given the opportunity to stare at Chan’s back, paying attention really isn’t an option.)

“We could just go to a café like the other crews,” one of the boys said. He was the… not the tallest, but taller than at least one of them, and wearing the same uniform as literally all of them except Chan. The embroidered nametag on his jacket said Kim Seungmin. 

“Boring,” Minho said. “Can we go to Changbin’s penthouse?”

“No,” Changbin replied. “Last time you and Chan hogged the bed in the least charming way possible and I’m not allowing that again.”

“Shut up you two,” Chan said. Minho could hear in his voice that he was getting impatient. Usually, he’d find that hot and a reason to rile him up even more, but something about the atmosphere told him that wasn’t such a good idea.

“Jeongin, Hyunjin, what do you guys want?”

“I don’t really care,” Hyunjin said. “As long as it’s not like… a nudist club or something.”

“That sounds fun,” Minho mused. 

“Shut up, Minho.” Chan gave him an elbow in the side as a warning. (Minho had to resist the overwhelming urge to say ‘make me’.)

“I’d quite enjoy going somewhere to get drinks,” Jeongin offered, “but I’m not the biggest fan of cafés and stuff.”

Changbin sighed. “We can go to my place, but only if everyone promises to behave and not hog any beds.”

“No hogging beds this year,” Chan promised.

“Aww, come on!” Minho whined. “That was like… the only fun thing last year!”

“I’m gonna send you two to Chan’s place if you try anything. That is a threat.” And with that, Changbin walked off, leading the way for the other six guys.

Changbin’s penthouse was large. He was from a wealthy family, so he’d been able to move into a high-class place right after graduating. It had a view over nearly the entire city from windows that completely surrounded the place. Even the elevator was made of glass. Minho wasn’t the biggest fan of penthouses (heights weren’t really his thing), but it was undeniable that Changbin had the most charming place out of all of them. To be honest, Minho even preferred it over Chan’s place, which did not have he same spacious living room and thus less opportunities to lie on the floor. (And less couches to spread himself out on.)

Changbin opened his apartment door and let the others in before following as the last one to enter. Everything was clean—Minho supposed that he’d cleaned earlier that day, as a preparation for leaving. 

“Where’s T-1-XIN?” Chan asked.

“Powered down,” Changbin answered, pointing to the slumped robot in the corner. “Didn’t want to leave him on while I was gone. He should activate every few days for a routine check, and he’s connected to the alarm system.”

“That’s so cool,” H4N said, zooming over to T-1-XIN on a pair of little wheels that emerged from his feet. “These things aren’t programmed to do that.”

“I recoded it myself.”

H4N tapped on T-1-XIN’s head a few times, making a metallic clinking sound. The smaller robot did not react. Next to each other like that, Minho could finally see the difference between H4N and other robots. First off, he was very obviously made to look human. Of course he didn’t, but he was about as tall as a human, and they had even gone as far as recreate human muscles and skin on his arms, calves, and hands. His face and neck were a bit like a doll’s, with unmoving features constantly stuck in apathy, hair that looked fixed in place, and lights flashing under the skin to indicate things. (God knew what kinds of things.) The rest of his body was just made out of some metal-esque stuff, and someone had drilled a square UNSA nameplate to his chest that said: “ _H4N J1SUNG, AiDROID SND, CREW NAVIGATION OFFICER SKSEC#4419_ ”.

It was really just the overly realistic voice and muscles that bothered Minho a bit. Yeah, those were unsettling on an AI. (They had not given him a shirt and Minho did not know AiDroids usually came with shiny metal nipples and abs, but apparently they did.)

“I’ll get us some drinks. You guys sit down.” Changbin stalked into his kitchen, which was disgustingly clean and probably did not have any food in it. Most UNSA SEs (UNSA Space Explorers) cleaned out their kitchens before flying out, unless they had a housekeeper that could take care of it. So did Changbin, it seemed, because he returned to the two couches with only a bottle of Coca Cola and a jug of water. 

“So, shall we all get to know each other?” Chan asked.


	3. 02102147

### LOG-003

I am currently outside. It is beautiful here, but in an obscure way almost. The starlight now only filters through the storm particles that are already taking the skies. Mother says I have to come down soon. There is a malfunction in vent number 6, though, so I will have to walk a bit farther to vent 7. But it is worth it! I love the starlight so much. An elder told me today that when he was a young one, our folk still had darker skin like the bark that the forest folk use to build, because the starlight was much brighter. That was so long ago, even my grandmother does not remember. I wonder what stories I will tell the young ones when I am an elder.

  


### CREW ENGINEER SEO CHANGBIN

“My name’s Chan, and I’m your captain for the next mission. I’m sure you all know that means you follow my orders, but it also means that I’ll be here to resolve any personal or group-related issues on your mind.” Chan gratefully took the cup of Cola that Changbin had poured him. “Since some of you are going on their first mission, I’ll also be here to guide you and be a mentor. Minho?”

“Lee Minho, Crew Flight Pilot. There’s one rule: don’t fuck with me, and listen to what I say.” Minho downed an entire glass of water in one go. It wasn’t that impressive, since it was a small glass, but it definitely added a certain power to his aura. No surprise that the youngsters looked a bit intimidated.

“He’s joking,” Chan quickly said. “Listen to him when it comes to piloting things and flight instructions. Otherwise, ask for a second opinion. He enjoys messing with people.”

“You love it,” Minho said with a wink as he leaned back against the couch. 

“I do, but others might need to get used to it. Changbin?”

Changbin breathed through deeply. “Seo Changbin, Crew Engineer. I’m the oldest here after Chan and Minho. I’ll be responsible for anything and everything technical. That includes issues with androids—” he threw a deliberate glance at H4N “—and ship systems. Summed up: I fix things.”

“Can we maybe get something a bit more… personal?” Chan asked with a tilt of his head. “I mean, we know what an engineer does, but we don’t know what Changbin does.”

“Fine.” Sigh. Changbin hated this. God, he just wanted to check the ships. Then he’d at least be doing something he was good at. “I enjoy music, movies, and rapping.”

“Thanks, Bin. Hyunjin? You want to introduce yourself?”

Hyunjin straightened his back, clearing his throat. “I’m Hyunjin… and I’m the Crew Arms Commander. I know guns, basically. Also, I like reading, dancing…”

“I dance too,” Minho butted in. “Which style do you do?”

“Contemporary and hip-hop.”

“Shit dude… you do old styles? Me too.” He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Choreography?”

“I do that too, yeah.”

“You should show me some of your work sometime.”

“Sure,” Hyunjin agreed. “Uh… I also take meds every day, so just… don’t be surprised about that.”

“Thanks for sharing,” Chan said with one of those smiles that Changbin found disgustingly charming. (Seriously, why did he do those?) “Seungmin?”

“Okay so just fuck me am I right?” H4N said. “You’re going by age.”

“You were literally constructed this year,” Chan argued. “You’re the youngest.”

“My software was written in the same year as that Hyunjin was born. I am supposed to introduce myself after him.”

“Let him,” Seungmin said. “I’ll wait my turn.”

“Cool! Thanks Seungmin,” H4N said, his voice getting an odd twinge that was supposed to imitate excitement and gratitude. Next to his ear, a green light flashed. Changbin made a mental note to take him apart sometime and check what the fuck was going on in there. “My name is H-4-N J-1-S-U-N-G, but y’all can call me Jisung, or Han, or Han Jisung, or sexy if you really want to—” Minho snorted “—I’m the only one of us who’s legally allowed to go outside without a single item of clothing on, which is cool. I also have a built-in GPS and geological scanner. I can withstand pretty much anything except for extremely high or low temperatures. I’m waterproof though, so we can go swimming. That’s all. Seungmin! Your turn!”

“I’m Seungmin, Communications Officer, polyglot, wannabe photographer. I actually wanted to study linguistics, but… space seemed cool, so here I am. I enjoy listening to old music and photographing landscapes.”

“Thank you, Seungmin,” Chan said with a nod. “Jeongin?”

“Yang Jeongin. I’m a medic, nothing really special about that. Youngest in the crew, apparently. My favorite season is winter, and in my free time, I enjoy writing.”

“Can I leave now?” Minho asked. “We’ve gotten to know each other, right?”

“No, you can’t leave,” Changbin said. He was a bit fed up with Minho’s antics. “We still have time before we need to ready the ships.”

“Ugh. I hate it here,” Minho groaned. Changbin knew he didn’t actually look up against flying out—Minho loved flying so much that he’d made a job out of it, even willingly following orders just so he could fly.

“Just for a bit,” Chan said, and wrapped an arm around his boyfriend to pull him closer. “Then you’ll get to check flight systems.”

“So we’ll be working together a lot,” Jisung said. His head tilted a bit with a barely audible buzz. “as navigator and pilot. What’re your stats?”

“Speed 980, agility 990, precision 985, and reaction time 990 as well.”

“Damn, that’s impressive.” Seungmin whistled lowly.

“Graduated top of my class,” Minho said as if it was an everyday thing for him. Oh well, it probably was.

“I’ll have fun with you in the cockpit,” Jisung stated. “My navigation systems are top-notch as well, so there should be no issues.”

“Keep in mind, we’ll be on the carrier most of the time,” Chan reminded them. “We’ll only fly out once we’ve reached the anomaly.”

“Which ship do we even have?” Changbin asked. He wanted to know just in case he did want to modify things. It wasn’t unheard of that engineers customized parts of their ships, after all.

“A GWE model X,” Chan answered.

“And that is?” Jeongin inquired. As the youngest, it made sense that he wasn’t too familiar with all the codes yet. Especially medics generally didn’t know that. Only Pilots, Captains, and Engineers, really.

“General Weaponized Explorer,” Minho answered. “Low-impact weapons, high speed and agility. Bridge, three vents: one in the back, two on the sides, cockpit connected to the bridge, motor in the belly, chambers and med-bay above the bridge, and weaponized stations on the flanks.”

“That,” Chan affirmed. “We only have three chambers though, so we’ll have to share. Food and everything happens on the bridge.”

“I do not require a chamber,” Jisung said. “I simply power down, or not. Might stay awake and do some maintenance.”

“You’re not touching the ship,” Changbin said immediately. The thought of a Navigation android meddling with his ship made him sick. See, a mechanics android would’ve been a different story, but SND’s were programmed for Nav and Nav only. Over time, they learned, but Jisung had been powered up for the first time less than an month ago, so he’d undoubtedly fuck something up.

“What types of weapons are at the stations?” Hyunjin asked before anyone Jisung and Changbin could continue arguing.

“Standard-model railguns in small. Two pairs.”

“Does anyone apart from me know how to use one?”

“I do,” Chan said. “Former Crew Arms Commander. I’m hoping we don’t have to use them, but in an emergency I can man one of the stations.”

Seungmin opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the beeping of five watches at once. A bunch of different AI voices started talking all at once. A few seconds later, it was quiet again.

“What the hell?” Jisung asked. 

Changbin’s watch beeped. “New appointment added by UNSA: medical checkup, twenty-one o’clock. Next appointment: ready the ships, in thirty-five minutes, added by UNSA.”

“Why did yours come in later?” Jeongin asked. 

“Programmed it that way,” Changbin said curtly. He didn’t feel like explaining that it was the result of a bet he’d made with Minho during their last mission. (“I bet you can’t program your watch so that all notifications come in thirty seconds late exactly.” “Twenty bucks?” “The phone number of the Comms Officer of MYSEC#43 that you fancy.” “It’s a bet.”) Yeah, that had been a stupid bet. The CO had also turned out to be a total asshole.

“Before we head to the hangar,” Chan said, “is there anything that any of you want to make us aware of? I value communication among the crew, and I don’t want there to be misunderstandings.”

“I cry a lot,” Hyunjin confessed.

“So do I,” Jisung replied.

“Really?” There was a hopeful twinge in his voice.

“No. I don’t have tear ducts.”

Hyunjin gaped at the android sitting next to him. “As I was saying… I cry a lot, for… reasons that I don’t feel comfortable disclosing. When I do, please just give me a bit of time alone.”

“As long as you don’t start bawling in the middle of an important moment,” Minho said, “I’m fine with that.”

Chan snorted. “That’s the nicest thing Minho has said in days. Hyunjin, you’re good. Everyone cries sometimes. Anyone else?”

“I’m sharing a room with Chan and if any of you have a problem with that, I’ll vent you off the ship,” Minho declared.

“Not the kind of information that I expected, but fine. Can you guys figure out the cabin plan among yourselves?”

Changbin nervously looked at the younger three people. He didn’t know them, which was a problem. They didn’t seem unfriendly, but he’d experienced before that people tended to find him quite intimidating at first, whether it was because of his personality or his looks.

“Should we just go by age?” Jeongin asked. “So Seungmin and me, and Changbin and Hyunjin?”

“Fine with me,” Hyunjin said, and he flashed Changbin a smile that was actually really fucking cute.


	4. 02102147

### LOG-004

We were called back into the tunnels earlier than usual. The storm rose alarmingly fast, so father came to fetch me and my sisters. A few of our folk have clogged airways because of the dust. Not I nor my sisters, thankfully. I am in the communal space now, logging away. Mother is watching me. She says I spend too much time on this device, but she can no longer control me. I am an adult now.

  


### CREW CAPTAIN BANG CHAN

Readying the ships was a nuisance. As a crew captain, he was running around constantly, making sure none of the others made a mess of their jobs. Surprisingly enough, Jeongin was doing maybe the best out of all of them, just checking his medical things in the med-bay. (Chan didn’t really know a lot about medic stuff. He’d forgotten most of it.) Changbin had already started to alter things in the belly of their GWE-X “Strayer”. Minho and Jisung were bickering about Nav setups in the cockpit. Hyunjin was checking ammo (and had dropped several things already) while Seungmin really didn’t have a lot to do except make the beds in the cabins. It was very helpful of him to have offered that. 

“You’re not the fucking co-pilot!” he heard Minho yell from the cockpit. Oh God. With quick strides and a fast swipe of his UNSA card at the cockpit door, he walked in.

“What’s going on here?”

“Nothing,” Minho said, but the angry glance he cast at Jisung begged to differ.

“I offered Minho to be the co-pilot, since there are two pilot chairs in the cockpit, and every responsible crew has a co-pilot.”

“You didn’t offer, you just decided without asking me or Chan. You can’t just do that.”

“We don’t need a co-pilot,” Chan decided. “We’re a small crew, and you need to focus on what you were programmed for: navigation. Minho’s a top-notch pilot. Let him do his thing.”

“Yes, Captain,” Jisung mumbled while a little orange light flashed by his jawline. “I will keep that in mind.”

“Good. And Minho? No more yelling at your crewmates. Come to me if anything happens. This is supposed to be a peaceful trip.”

“Okay,” Minho said reluctantly.

“What was that?”

“Okay,” he said a bit louder.

“I’m sorry, I can’t—”

“Yes, Captain.” Minho sighed. “I will not yell at my crewmates again, and come to you if anything happens.”

“Very good, Flight Pilot Lee.”

Minho rolled his eyes, and Chan flashed him a smile. He enjoyed this—pushing Minho’s buttons to the point where he finally listened. Discipline issues were problematic sometimes, but when they weren’t, they made Minho quite a fun person to fuck around with.

“Get a room,” Jisung said, startling Chan. He’d almost forgotten that the android was there. 

The rest of ship preparations went by quite smoothly. Everything was in order, and Chan was happy to report that to the UNSA commanding officers that were keeping track of everything. Then, they were sent through to medical checkups—everyone’s least favorite flight preparation.

He was sat in a blue plastic chair with his shirt off while the nurse was still tapping away at her laptop.

“Would you like to have a prostate exam performed, Mr. Bang?” she asked after a few seconds. Her voice sounded muffled through her mask. “It says here that you have never had one before. Usually, we do not recommend it for men your age, but since you have an intense family record of prostate cancer, we deem it useful.”

“No thank you,” he replied. “I’m experiencing no issues…”

“Alright. Speak to a qualified medic if you do notice any problems during the flight. Then I’ll just take some blood, and run some sight and hearing tests… you know the drill.”

Chan did not like needles. Not a lot of people knew, but he was like… majorly scared of them. Just at the mention of taking blood, he could feel his body tense up and start to sweat. He breathed in deeply, starting the breathing exercises they’d been taught in mental prep. Five seconds in, five seconds out. That was the starting point.

The nurse grabbed a hold of his forearm gently, lining the needle up with his skin. “I’m going to push in now, relax your muscles.”

In any other circumstance, Chan would’ve laughed at that statement, but at that moment, the only thing he could do was try his best to let his left arm go pliant underneath the nurse’s gloves. It wasn’t long before a little popping sensation announced the needle’s entrance into his arm. He exhaled… four… three… two… one… And it was out again. 

The nurse unclipped the vial of blood from the needle and set it into a machine with a bunch of others. At least the worst was over. Chan had no idea how medical personnel dealt with this every day. 

“We will send you the results in approximately three hours. Now, for the sight test…”

The rest of the checkup went by smoothly, and Chan passed every single test without exceptions. It had taken a good hour in there, and he was exhausted by the time he entered the GWE-X. Jisung had apparently already powered down, because Chan spotted him standing perfectly still in a corner. The small lights that usually sparked in the android’s eyes were also out. He could hear music from Changbin and Hyunjin’s cabin, and the door to Seungmin and Jeongin’s was still open. Apparently some of the others had taken a bit longer, but at least Changbin was there. (Changbin was always healthy, the dude must’ve had ideal genetics.)

Chan pushed open the sliding door to his and Minho’s chamber, revealing Minho already beneath the blankets, curled up with a book.

“Hi,” Chan said softly. 

Minho looked up. Peeking out from underneath the blankets was his torso, clad in the plain gray UNSA pajamas. He looked softer in the dim light of an inbuilt nightstand LED. “Hi Channie,” he said. Even his voice was less rough.

If Chan liked Minho at day, he loved him at night. When the sun was down, and especially when they used older lamps or yellow-tinted ones. They always made his sharp features look softer: droopy eyelids, long lashes, plush lips. Even his breathing seemed to even out, and as he got more tired, his words melted together and he started forgetting to keep his edgy persona up. 

Just like at that moment. Chan had to turn away just so he could resist the urge to just jump on the bed and cuddle Minho. He played it off by unbuttoning his jacket and changing into his pajamas. (A lousy attempt at soft fabrics by UNSA, part 1 of many.) He could hear Minho put away his book behind him, blankets rustling and the bedframe squeaking a bit as he did some kind of acrobatics. 

Chan turned around again and climbed into bed. Almost immediately, Minho latched onto him. 

“You’re cuddly tonight,” he remarked. 

“Hmm,” Minho hummed. He brought one of his small hands up to poke Chan’s dimple. “Missed you.”

“I missed you too, baby.” (Chan didn’t miss the way Minho’s hand stilled at the pet name.)

“Kiss?” His voice was barely above a timid little whisper. Chan chuckled softly. Minho was usually more one to just push him up against a wall instead of asking so cutely. But that was how things went between them. Sometimes, at night, Minho was more gentle.

“Come here then,” Chan teased. “Before I fall asleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOFT MINCHAN SOFT MINCHAN SOFT MINCHAN SOFT MINCHAN SOFT MINCHAN SOFT MINCHAN


	5. 03102147

### LOG-005

A forest-folk came to visit us. His name is Fres, and I’ve never seen anything like him before! He is taller than most of us down here on the plains, and he has to lower down on his heels to walk through the tunnels. I can barely understand his dialect, but that does not stop me from trying to talk to him! His skin is blotchy and uneven, different shades of brown and green. I think it is beautiful. He has only two eyes and cannot see in the tunnels, though, so someone always has to be with him. One time, I got to hold his hand to lead him to a communal space. His fingers are so long and thin, but they are stronger than they look. Ah… my mother calls. I must go.

  


### CREW ENGINEER SEO CHANGBIN

Changbin woke up with something heavy draped across his chest—and it was moving. In a flash of panic, he pushed the thing off him, stumbling out of bed. Upon regaining his composure, he realized that the thing was, in fact, Crew Arms Commander Hwang Hyunjin. Fuck them for not taking the time the night before to shove the beds apart. Why did UNSA place them together in the first place? Fucking bonding?

Hyunjin just continued sleeping, so Changbin decided to play it off like nothing had happened, instead going over to his closet and taking out one of the five standard uniforms in there. They were pretty boring. Gray cargo pants, black thermo tee, gray utility jacket, black combat boots. It was takeoff day, and more importantly, Chan’s birthday.

Despite never really showing his love for the Crew Captain, Changbin did really care about him, and he’d bought a present as well. Something he’d had to dig up from the deepest archives of some library in Yongin when he went back home between missions. Hopefully Chan appreciated it. Currently, the present was wrapped in brown wrapping paper somewhere in Changbin’s closet. (He’d sneaked it in the night before.)

From somewhere behind him, a groan emerged. Changbin halted right in the middle of tying his shoelaces. Slowly, so very slowly, he turned his head, coming face to face with a disheveled Hyunjin. His face was a bit puffy, and his eyes seemed to still be stuck closed, while his hair was certainly not fixed in place, but like… everywhere.

“Morning sunshine,” Changbin said.

“Mornin’ hyung.” Hyunjin yawned, squeezing his eyes even farther shut and leaning forward before bouncing back and blinking confusedly.

“We’ve got to report in an hour. Might wanna get out by then.”

“Hmmm. Fifty more minutes of sleep.”

“You should really get out, if you want to take a shower or something before.” Changbin ripped the blankets off his side of the bed (thank God they had two blankets) and started adjusting and smoothing them out. Hyunjin groaned and rolled over so he was fully on his own bed. 

Somehow, the crew still managed to be complete within thirty minutes, and gather on the bridge. Chan did a quick walkthrough of the day schedule. (Report, fly out of the hanger and to the carrier, dock at the carrier.) 

It was quite funny to see Hyunjin still half-asleep, attempting to wake himself up by rubbing frustratedly at his eyes. At one point, he leaned into Changbin’s side and whispered into his ear, “So when are we celebrating?”

“Celebrating what?” Changbin asked as he swiped his UNSA card to open a vent. (They had to get out of the ship some way, right?)

“Captain’s birthday…”

“Oh.” He looked behind him, relaxing upon finding out that Chan had decided to take another vent. “He doesn’t like celebrating his birthday, so we’ll probably just congratulate him at dinner. Why?”

“Got him a present.”

“Wait, seriously?” 

“Seemed like a nice thing to do,” Hyunjin murmured. “Should I not have?”

“No, no, I just didn’t expect it.”

“Ah.” They exited the vent together, joining the rest of the crew in the hangar. It was quite an impressive building. It was a good ten stories high at least, and three rows of ten ships were lined up on its floor. Along the walls were docking spaces for incoming ships. On the hangar floor, more and more crews began to assemble, until there was talking and walking all around, like an ants’ nest. 

“Alright kids, stay together,” Chan said. 

“Don’t call me a kid,” Minho replied. He unbuttoned his jacket, effectively violating uniform rules. Chan just sighed, and gestured them to follow him.  
The hangar was open on one side, and it was quite the sight to see all thirty crews standing in line. This was by far the largest mission Changbin had ever been on. According to stories and history lessons, the largest mission ever sent out had been one-hundred crews in the year 2090: mission Aeneas. They’d had the old GWE models, called SESs back then. Standard Exploration Ships. They were old, rusty, not agile, and… had he already mentioned old? Mission Aeneas had never returned. 

“Crew SKSEC#4419 reporting for duty,” Chan said when his name was called by Commanding Officer Park. “Ship in order, crew in order.”

“Good.” Commanding Officer Park walked closer with his hands behind his back and chest puffed out. “Flight Pilot Lee, button up your jacket.”

Minho rolled his eyes and reached down to slip the first button through its hole. “On it, Commanding Officer Park.”

  


### CREW FLIGHT PILOT LEE MINHO

“Where are we docking, Han?”

“Deck six, docking station twenty-one. Right in the middle of the ship’s belly.” Jisung lowered himself into the navigator’s seat a few meters behind Minho. 

“What type of carrier, Chan?”

“ESC-2, ‘Atlas II’.”

“Alrighty. So left vent docking.”

“Left vent docking,” Chan confirmed. He was buckled up at the bridge, hands zooming across a screen in front of him. “We’re up next. Start the engines. It’s go time.”

“You got it.” Minho pressed the button right in front of him and then rolled his chair a bit to the left. The ship buzzed to life, screens popping up and floor trembling beneath their feet. Minho took a hold of the two control sticks and gently moved the left one forward. With a shudder, the ship lifted itself off the ground. “Changbin, feet.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Changbin said, but still made sure that the ship’s feet retracted into its belly.

“We’re off,” Minho announced, and moved the right control stick forward. The ship jolted and they were all flung back into their seats as it exited the hangar into the sunlight. 

“Jisung, hangar number?”

“Seven. The largest one. You just flew out the wrong way.”

Minho took a sharp left turn and maneuvered the ship back to where they came from, zooming past hangar 3 and the other ships that were flying low and slow towards hangar 7. He was gonna get in trouble for flying high and fast on hangar grounds, definitely. The problem was that he really didn’t care. Neither did Chan apparently, because he didn’t even try to correct Minho’s behavior. It seemed that the rush of flying high and fast was a shared experience. 

Minho did slow down when they approached hangar 7, though. Partly because he didn’t want to accidentally demolish the carrier by coming in fast, and partly because he had to take a proper look at the carrier. They were to enter at the backside, where an impressive set of doors had slid open to let ships into the belly of the Atlas II. Atlas I had been an old carrier that flew out in 2090 and hadn’t returned. (Titanic all over again, Minho thought. They’d made a Titanic II as well. He loved reading about those kinds of old things.)

Atlas had huge motors below and next to the doors, that were obviously built to propel a ship through space at a phenomenally high speed. It’d never be as fast as a high velocity cruiser (HVS) of course, but it was the fastest carrier ever built on planet earth. The ship was as long as the hangar itself, and barely even fit. Minho suspected that they’d have to move the roof open to let it out. 

As he flew their GWE-X into the belly of the cruiser, the world went significantly darker, only illuminated by the internal lights of Atlas II. The docking belly was actually quite humble, made to harbor a good thirty-two GWE-Xs, along with five smaller diplomacy ships, four large fighters, and a row of ten small fighter ships. In an hour or so, there would only be two spots left. The Strayer’s indoor lights also flashed on, giving Minho clear sight of his button panels. He flicked a few switches, and the motor quieted down into a soft background buzzing.

Behind him, Chan was also busy on his control screen. When he quit frantically swiping and clicking, one of the docks of Atlas II suddenly lit up green. Minho grinned. Docking was his favorite part right after speed and agility flying. He turned the ship so that the left vent came vent-to-dock. A small side screen appeared that informed him that he was on the right height, so he let go of the left control stick. With his free hand, he started flicking switches to prepare for docking. Somewhere on the bridge, he could hear Changbin do the same. Two people were needed for docking.

The hiss as the vent and dock connected was like music to Minho’s ears. Exhilarating, the way the ship stabilized itself and clicked into place like a puzzle. “Welcome aboard Atlas II,” he said triumphantly.

“Good job, Minho,” Chan said. “I see you haven’t unlearned anything.”

“Never will, darling. Never will.”


	6. 03102147

### LOG-006

Good news: Fres gets to sleep in my chamber! Not necessarily bad news but strange news: an elder told us today that us plains-folk used to be even taller than the forest-folk in the old days! I am not that surprised, honestly. Our elders are much taller than we are, and even their skin is darker. I think it is because of how the plains used to be. Someone mentioned that there used to be high grass and bright starlight all day long. It is interesting how I am only told this now that I am an adult. I suppose it is easier for the young ones to appreciate life when they are not burdened with the knowledge of a past where starlight was more abundant than it is now.  


### CREW CAPTAIN BANG CHAN

Chan was positively exhausted when he came back to the Strayer after a meeting with all Crew Captains and other high Officers on the Atlas II. The fucking takeoff had been delayed due to issues with the carrier’s doors. Tomorrow, they said. Tomorrow they’d finally fly out. For Chan, it had been a birthday like any other, but it was okay. He was used to it. His parents and siblings had sent him messages in the afternoon, and so had a few of his old academy friends, but that was all. Honestly, Chan just wanted to cuddle Minho for the rest of the night. Maybe he could ask to be the small spoon just this once. With fluttering eyelids he swiped his card so he could pass through the left vent and finally enter the bridge, ready to change into his pajamas and claim his cuddles.

It seemed that life had other plans for him, though.

Even at midnight, the lights on the bridge were still on, and his crew was sitting around the table. Granted, some of them looked like they were to fall asleep at any moment, but they were there. They’d waited for him. It made his entire chest swell with affection. What had he done to deserve this crew. (Little therapist’s voice in the back of his brain reminded him that waiting for someone on their birthday was just being nice, but he chose to ignore it.)

“What’s this for?” he asked, unable to stop the smile that graced his face.

“Your birthday, of course,” Changbin answered as he stood up and walked around the table to envelope Chan in a hug.

Changbin’s hugs. They had to be Chan’s favorite hugs right after Minho’s. Changbin may not have been the tallest person in the room, but he was strong, and broad, and warm. It felt a bit like being trapped in a weighted blanket, which was a feeling Chan didn’t dislike at all. He closed his eyes and breathed out as he lowered his head onto Changbin’s shoulder. The hug came to an abrupt stop, though, when someone carefully removed Changbin’s arms from his waist. 

“That’s my boyfriend,” Minho said as he coaxed Changbin away and back to his seat. “If you want to hug him you have to ask me for permission first.”

“Needy,” Chan teased, but still accepted it when Minho latched onto his side. It rarely ever happened that Minho committed to PDA, but when he did, it was always like Chan was ascending. Something about being able to show everyone how cute his boyfriend was made him extremely happy. Minho had taken his boots off, and was thus just a tiny bit shorter that Chan, who was still wearing them. Chan nuzzled his face into Minho’s hair and breathed in. It smelled like that sickly sweet shampoo that he always used. Chan thought about how long it would take before he ran out and had to start using UNSA’s provided scentless shampoo. He didn’t look forward to that day.

“Not needy,” Minho mumbled into his chest. “Just care about you. Don’t want Binnie to crush you.”

“I’m hurt,” Changbin said. “Also, I don’t know how long you guys are planning on standing there, but there are actually a few presents for Channie-hyung.”

“Oh?” Chan asked. He felt his breath hitch again in excitement. The last time he’d gotten presents for his birthday was… a notebook from Changbin and a necklace from Minho the year before. 

“You guys go first,” Minho said. “I wanna give mine later. In private.”

Jisung let out a mechanic whistle, a pink light flashing by his eyebrow. 

“I’ll go first,” Changbin said. “and I want to apologize for last year’s present. It was kinda boring but we didn’t know each other that well yet and—”

“It’s fine, Binnie,” Chan said. He reluctantly moved away from Minho and sat down at the table. Changbin slid a package the size of a shoebox across the table. It was wrapped a bit messily, living proof of Changbin’s somewhat lacking present-wrapping skills. Chan started carefully taking off the pieces of tape until he could take the plain black paper off. It turned out that the present was, in fact, a shoebox.

“Did you just give me shoes aboard a mission where we have to wear uniform boots at least half the time?”

“Open it, dummy.” Changbin waved his hand in a somewhat vague gesture. 

Chan lifted the lid of the box, and spent a few seconds gaping at the contents. There was something in there that he could only recognize as a CD. An actual, physical CD. He remembered his parents showing him some really old ones that had belonged to his great-grandparents, but he’d never actually used a CD. But there it was, in all its glory, a thin plastic box with an album cover inside of it. Hidden Pleasures by Joy Division. According to papers and articles he’d read, this album, and especially the cover art, were of legendary status back when it came out. He’d even bought a shirt with the cover art on it in which he now regularly slept.

“You shouldn’t have,” Chan said, “seriously. Oh my God.”

“I saw that shirt you were wearing and remembered that one friend of mine who was like… obsessed with Joy Division for a while, and she told me that the library in Yongin still sold CDs…”

“Thank you so much.” He held the CD like it was made of glass, carefully studying the backside as well. “I would hug you but I think Minho’s against that.”

“I am,” Minho stated jokingly.

“We already had one hug, hyung. That’s enough for one day.” Changbin flashed him a grin from across the table.

Jeongin cleared his throat somewhere to the left. Chan turned to look at the youngest, immediately noticing his downturned gaze and droopy aura. “I’m sorry, Captain,” he said. “I didn’t know today was your birthday, so I don’t have a present.”

Chan’s mouth formed a little ‘o’ shape, and then he smiled at Jeongin. “It’s okay. I didn’t expect any of this either. Also, please do call me hyung. When we’re off-duty I’m not your Captain, but a friend, okay?”

“Alright,” Jeongin said. His head was still hanging a little bit, though a small smile began to grace the corners of his mouth.

“I didn’t buy anything either,” Seungmin said, “because I don’t know what you like and stuff, so I decided I better just wait. Also I kinda organized the ship. Not necessarily as a birthday present, but for everyone’s good.”

“That’s kind, thank you, Seungmin,” Chan said. “Though Changbin will probably make a mess of it in no time again.”

“Hyunjin got something, right?” Changbin asked, tilting his head at his cabinmate. 

“Kinda… yeah.” Hyunjin pushed his hair back shyly. “It’s not that special, but I thought it might be good for some entertainment aboard and everything, so… yeah, here.”

He slid a carefully wrapped package across the table. This one was wrapped neatly, with a little bow around it. It was pretty, Chan decided. He carefully undid the bow and once again, in true Chan fashion, detached the tape before unwrapping it so that the paper didn’t rip. It was a red box with, in big, stylized letters, **_UNO_**.

Jisung gasped. “Hyunjin, you’re a genius!”

Hyunjin laughed awkwardly. “You like it?”

“I love this game,” Chan said, “Thanks, Hyunjin. We have to play a game tomorrow. For now I think it’s best if we all turn in for the night. Tomorrow is takeoff day, and we have to be alert for that.”

“You still have to open my present though,” Minho said.

“I will. Show the way, my love.”

Minho smiled brightly and took his hand, yelling a quick ‘goodnight!’ and then dragging Chan along to their cabin before any of the others could even react. 

Once the door slid closed behind them, Minho pushed Chan over to the bed, causing him to stumble and fall back. 

“I don’t know what you’re planning, but this isn’t an unpleasant surprise at all—” Chan was shushed by Minho, who pointed at him to stay on the bed. 

“Stay there, I’m going to get something from the wardrobe.” He threw open the doors with enthusiasm and pulled out a package from underneath a pile of trousers. He then jumped onto the bed next to Chan. Dropping the present in his lap, he said, “Open it!”

Chan threw the paper on the floor, staring at the book he was holding. It was matte black, and there was a picture of Minho and him at the beach on the front. Beneath that, it said _23 years of love_. He was pretty sure he could feel his heart melting in his ribcage. “Minho,” he whispered. It came out a bit choked, only making it obvious how close he was to bursting into tears.

“Your mom and some others helped me make it,” Minho said, placing his hand gently on Chan’s thigh. “Open it?”

Chan flipped the first few pages until he saw a baby picture of himself, attached to the paper with decorative tape. In his mom’s handwriting, there was a date and a placename. With every picture, he could see himself growing up, always staring fascinatedly at the camera. There were also pictures of his childhood friends, the first time he’d even dyed his hair, him on the set of a commercial he’d starred in, and even from his high school graduation. A few of the pictures even had small pieces of writing next to them from his family, or notes that Minho had added later. Then, the handwriting changed to Minho’s altogether. It started with his official USEA SK headshot, but there was more. Pictures of him that had appeared on the academy’s website, class pictures, selfies that he only remembered sending to Changbin… it was a treasure trove of memories. The last full pages contained only pictures of Minho and him. On their mission, at the beach, in a zero-G practice room, at the pool, and even at the pier where he very vividly remembered having their first kiss.

He didn’t even realize he was crying until a droplet hit the paper. He sniffed and quickly wiped it away, leaving a wet streak. 

“Oh darling,” Minho mumbled. He gently took the photobook away from Chan and put it on the other side of the bed before pulling the older into an embrace. It was warm and soft and it reminded Chan of home, a place he never wanted to leave. He just wanted to bask in Minho’s warmth forever, or as long as he’d allow him to. With a shudder, he pushed himself closer to Minho, effectively making both of them fall flat on the bed. Minho just cradled his head between his arms, letting Chan sniffle into his shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MINCHAN!  
> also homies don't forget to follow me on twt @j_potatoes


	7. 04102147

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw // injury + pain

### LOG-007

I explained the comms to Fres today. Told him about the Hello Universe we sent out when the storm came. Whoever caused it still has not returned our greeting, but us plains-folk are still keeping hope! Apparently the forest-folk are less affected by the storm, because the trees shield them. I wonder if the same thing goes for the water-folk. They live underwater, where the dust probably does not reach. Fres was fascinated by the things I have collected from the dust. He thinks that they belong to some being from another planet. I told him, ‘yeah, that is what we think too, and why we sent out the Hello Universe.’ He is frankly endearing—so curious about our life in the tunnels.

### CREW MEDIC YANG JEONGIN

The ship comms cracked, before the Captain’s voice boomed, “All aboard must prepare for takeoff. Takeoff in T minus 10 minutes. Assigned takeoff seats are on deck eleven. Not buckling up is at own risk and not recommended.”

Jeongin got up from his spot at the table. He’d just finished drinking a breakfast shake, and aimed the empty container at the recycling bin as he walked out of the Atlas II cafeteria. His heels hurt from the boots because he still hadn’t broken them in properly. For a medic, that was probably blasphemy, but he didn’t really care. He just forgot, okay? Mentally, he wrote a note to himself that he should get band-aids after takeoff. Those that had the sticky part all around instead of only at two sides. Otherwise they wouldn’t work. 

Cafeteria on deck ten, so he had to take the stairs up one floor. Soon, he was surrounded by a lot of other people who all wanted to get to the takeoff seats. It was a curious system, takeoff seats. They were just seats with buckled belts against the wall. The Atlas II crew had assigned cabins with takeoff seats, so the ones on the eleventh deck were only for SECs, diplomacy ship (DS-Cs) crews, large fighter (LWS-F) crews, and SWS solo flyers that flew the Small Weaponized Spacecrafts. 

Jeongin sat down on one of the takeoff seats and buckled up. Next to him, a rather small woman sat. Her long hair was tied into two braids that reached halfway down her back. She was busy on her phone, texting someone with surprising agility in her fingers. The clacking sounds of her nails against the screen (an old model, not holographic) was drowned out a few seconds later, when Jisung buckled up on Jeongin’s other side.

“Exciting, isn’t it?” Jisung asked loudly. “I’ve heard humans tend to find life-threatening things exciting!”

“You think this is gonna be life-threatening?” Jeongin retorted. “We’re safe here.”

“Hmm, probably. Who’s that charming lady on your other side?” Jisung leaned forward to stare at the woman. 

“I don’t know, Jisung, don’t be rude,” he hissed.

“Don’t worry about it,” the woman said, “Androids are like that. I used to hang out with this one android who kept trying to take samples of other people’s hair. He was a medic. My name’s Alexa by the way.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jisung said. He reached out across Jeongin’s lap to hold a hand out for Alexa to take. 

She did, an ungodly amount of earrings flashing because of the overhead lights as he leaned in. Jeongin pressed his back further into his chair. What the hell was Jisung doing? Was this some type of fucking friendly-mode or pre-programmed diplomacy setting?

Not long after that, the hallway began to quiet down as the Atlas II’s Captain came onto the comms again. “Liftoff in T minus three minutes. All crew is advised to buckle up now.”

Jeongin looked around the hallway. He could see Chan and Minho sitting next to each other a few seats over, and even further along was Changbin talking to Seungmin as he clicked his buckles into place. Only Hyunjin was nowhere to be seen so far. He was probably around the corner or something.

### CREW ARMS COMMANDER HWANG HYUNJIN

Hyunjin was just holding a small white pill in his hand when the comms crackled to life. 

“Liftoff in T minus three minutes. All crew is advised to buckle up now.”

Oh shit. He basically threw the pill into his mouth and took a gulp of water before putting the glass back hastily so that it wouldn’t fall and shatter during takeoff. He knew they weren’t allowed to be in the ships when Atlas II flew out, but he also had no idea where else he was supposed to go. He’d slept in, not knowing when exactly takeoff was going to be. And now he was in trouble. 

In a fit of panic, Hyunjin zoomed through the vent. The hallway was empty. He was on floor six. Feverishly, he tried to remember what deck the takeoff seats were on. Not on deck one to ten, he knew that much. Those were only for docking in the back. 1B to 10B were possible, since there were things situated at the front. 1B to 3B were maintenance decks, 4B to 6B were Atlas II crew cabins, and 7B to 10B were facilities, so he had to go up in any situation. 

The stairs were too long. T minus two was announced just as he reached deck nine. T minus one as he reached deck ten. On the last step of the stairs up to deck eleven, the ship started rumbling, and takeoff was officially starting. He gripped onto the handrail to steady himself, failing miserably as he slid down a few steps. His ankle twisted painfully, but he’d had worse during physical examinations, so he did his best to climb up the final few stairs and slammed the button of the sliding door. Any place better than the staircase at that moment—as long as he wasn’t at risk of falling down a ten-deck staircase, he was good. 

What awaited him was so much better and so much worse than an empty floor at the same time. Good news was, the takeoff seats were right in front of him, and there was an empty one right next to Jisung. Bad news was, everyone was staring at him. Even worse news? Just as he was about to enter the floor, the door started sliding shut again and crashed into his left shin. A spike of agonizing pain shot up his leg, leaving him crying out. Okay, now all the attention was definitely on him. Yet not a single one got up. Stupid buckles locked as soon as liftoff started. 

Hyunjin screwed his eyes shut as the ship began trembling even harder, shaking his leg inbetween the door and sending sting after sting through his body. Internally he begged, prayed that all of this was going to be over soon. He feared the moment the ship would go into orbit or exit the atmosphere, since that would be even harsher. His breathing was also speeding up, leaving his chest heaving and throat tight. 

And then there was a loud noise and the door slid open. A strong arm grabbed Hyunjin’s bicep and hoisted him up. Hyunjin didn’t register a thing, instead crying out when he accidentally tried to put weight on his left leg. The person that had gotten him slammed the button and the door slid shut with a hiss that was way too soft for everything that was happening around.

“Jisung!” the person yelled over the thrumming of Atlas II’s engines. Their voice was raspy and deep, though Hyunjin was too delirious to recognize it. “Move one chair over so Hyunjin can sit next to Jeongin! He needs some kind of medic!”

“I am literally stuck in this seat,” another voice replied. “The buckles are locked.”

“Fuck.” The person laid Hyunjin’s head down on the floor gently. He could feel the ship’s vibrations penetrate his skull as the figure moved away from him to tinker with someone else’s seat. Hyunjin twitched, his foot spasming and sending another spike of pain through his body. He swallowed down a mouthful of bile. Sour. Everything was sour, and it hurt, and he wanted to—

The same strong arms lifted him up again, steadying him with arms hooked underneath his armpits. Another person lifted his left leg up by the thigh so his foot wouldn’t drag across the floor. He was placed into a seat, and a person (blob, in Hyunjin’s eyes) secured him with a belt. Hyunjin’s head lolled back on its own accord, bonking against the wall. It hurt. Everything hurt. He trembled one last time before he faded out of consciousness.


	8. 04102147

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw // injury + pain

### LOG-008

The comms said something today! We do not understand it, but we got an answer! I wonder if this is the start of something. Me and some others are organizing a fest in one of our shrines, so I should get back to work! It is so exciting!

### CREW MEDIC YANG JEONGIN

Not much later, Atlas II stabilized just outside of earth’s atmosphere. As soon as the belts unlocked, at least five medics in the hallway came storming towards Hyunjin, who was still slumped in his own seat. Jeongin made a weak attempt at shooing all of them away, yelling stuff about having to give him space. He only allowed Chan close, and Changbin, because the latter had insisted on helping carry him to the infirmary. Thankfully, said infirmary was on the eleventh floor, only about three doors further. They arrived there in a hurry, Chan swiping his card to get in and Jeongin and Changbin carrying in Hyunjin. 

A few other UNSA medics had already been alarmed, and they joined the trio around Hyunjin’s bed. One of them carefully cut open the bottom half of his left pant leg, given the fact that removing the whole thing put him at risk of further injuring his leg. It looked nasty—bruised, scraped and bloody in some places, though it didn’t seem to be the worst case scenario that Jeongin had imagined when Hyunjin had gone unconscious. Speaking of… there was also an unpleasant bump at the back of his head from where he’d hit it against the wall. Hyunjin wasn’t responsive though, so they could work their magic in peace for a little. 

One of the medics instructed Chan and Changbin to leave the infirmary, which they reluctantly did. Meanwhile, Jeongin was busy handling anesthetics. As soon as Hyunjin woke up, his leg would start pestering him again, so they’d decided to numb the entire thing from the knee down. A simple injection would do the trick, though. With surprisingly steady hands, Jeongin clipped the vial to a disinfected needle and pushed it into Hyunjin’s calf without further warning. Once he pulled it out again, things calmed down a bit in the infirmary. 

“What exactly happened?” one of the Atlas II medics asked. 

“Leg got stuck between a sliding door during liftoff,” Jeongin answered as he gently used a wipe to clean the blood off Hyunjin’s shin. “And he hit his head a few minutes later.”

“And you’re his crewmate?”

“Yeah.” Jeongin handed the dirty wipe to a nurse who was already waiting to give him a new, disinfecting one for the wounds. “Yang Jeongin, SKSEC#4419.”

“And his name is?” the nurse fetched a clipboard from a closet against the far wall.”

“Hwang Hyunjin. That’s H-W-A-N-G H-Y-U-N-J-I-N.”

“Thank you.”

As he continued dabbing away at Hyunjin’s leg, the damage became more and more clear. Not a huge break—the doors weren’t that fast and strong after all—but definitely a fracture that would hinder his walking for a while. Jeongin put a hand on Hyunjin’s other leg to scale how bad the bruising had swollen. 

“Can I get some ice?”

“Of course.” Another medic passed him an ice pack which Jeongin then pressed to the bruises. With the help of two others, they got his leg elevated as well as his head, and soon there was nothing really to be done, except for bandaging the leg. For that, Jeongin would rather wait until the bruising had gone down, though.  
Hyunjin sleepily opened his eyes a few minutes later, trying to lift his head and immediately wincing. Jeongin’s head shot up where he was sitting next to the bed. He looked at the monitor on the other side. Heartbeat was up just a tad, but for the rest everything was fine.

“What the hell?” Hyunjin asked, squinting against the overhead lamps in the infirmary. 

“You’re injured,” Jeongin said. “Try not to move.”

“Yeah, I got that far,” Hyunjin remarked. His eyes flickered down to his leg, though he was smart enough not to lift his head again. “Why do I not feel my leg?”

“Anesthetics. Don’t worry about it. We’ll patch you up later, give you a splint, then you stay a night here, and then you can go again.”

“A whole night?” Hyunjin shot him a glare, accompanied by an angry frown. “That’s ridiculous.”

“You’ve got a leg fracture, hyung. You won’t be able to walk properly for at least a month, let alone do your tasks.”  
Hyunjin sighed. “I can do things with crutches. I won’t be a burden.”

“Of course you won’t be a burden!” Jeongin took a hold of Hyunjin’s hand and squeezed in gently. “This is why I’m here. To take care of you when you get hurt!”

“I got hurt before we even took off properly.”

“Granted, that wasn’t the smartest move, but it’s okay. Rather now than right before we reach our destination, right? We’ll be up here for a while anyways. Six to eight weeks is nothing.”

“Thanks.” His voice was soft. Jeongin noticed he looked quite tired (not a very big surprise) so he patted Hyunjin’s hand and then placed it back on the bed. 

“Try and get some sleep for me, yeah? It’s best anyways if you don’t feel it when we put the splint on.”

“How bad is it?”

“It could’ve been worse,” Jeongin answered. “It’s only your shin, so we won’t splint your entire leg. You’ll live.”

“I always do.”

“As you should.”

### CREW ENGINEER SEO CHANGBIN

Changbin felt like shit. He was standing outside the infirmary doors with Chan, who was giving him the silent-treatment. He hated it when Chan got all quiet like that—it never meant anything good. It meant he was definitely either angry, disappointed, or extremely worried. Probably a mixture of all, at the moment. Changbin had been stupid enough to not wake Hyunjin up that morning, assuming that he’d just wake up on his own. He’d let all of them leave without checking in on Hyunjin, without seeing if he knew where the takeoff seats were, without seeing if he even knew liftoff was scheduled that early.

In short, it was his fault. His own, stupid little mistake that had gotten out of hand and now Hyunjin was in the infirmary with a broken leg or something and he felt guilty and—

The doors opened with a hiss, and Chan immediately pushed himself away from the wall. Changbin did the same. Jeongin emerged from the infirmary. In itself, that was good news, Changbin assumed, that he’d let Hyunjin alone in there. Bad news, there was blood on his hands, which rarely even signified something good. Jeongin’s gaze was cast at the floor as he wiped his hands on a white wet wipe. 

“How is he?” Chan asked curtly.

“Alive. Wouldn’t say well, but he’s going to make it.”

Changbin exhaled in relief. He didn’t expect Hyunjin to die, but hearing confirmation from a trained medic—even if he was two years younger than him—comforted him. Chan still stood there rigidly, spine straight and chin up. It was his leader-stance: the look he always had when he was going to take control of a situation. Even back when he wasn’t Crew Captain he used to do that thing, and it still scared Changbin a little bit. 

“Leg fracture,” Jeongin continued. “We’ll give him a splint and he’ll be up with crutches in no time.”

Chan gave him a curt nod. “When can I talk to him?”

“He’s asleep right now, and we want to do the splint before anything else, plus he needs to rest now. So… probably tomorrow morning at best.”

“Alright. Just give me a call when he’s good again. Anything else we need to know?”

“Not really…” Jeongin crumpled up the wet wipe and stuffed it into his pocket. “I’m going to stay here for a while. You guys go attend whatever meetings and stuff you have.”

Chan inhaled through his teeth and exhaled with a sigh. He looked both ways down the hallway and then did finger guns at Jeongin. “I’m in the Strayer if you need me. Changbin, you should go see if those buckles you broke are still intact. I don’t want any damage to the takeoff seats on your behalf.”

Changbin didn’t dare object, so he just nodded and spit out a quick, “Yes, hyung,” before walking down the hallways again to where they’d come from.

### CREW CAPTAIN BANG CHAN

Chan sat at the table on the bridge. His chin was resting on his right hand, and with his left, he was busy stirring in a cup of coffee. He felt horrible. First day as a Crew Captain, and his Arms Commander had already gotten injured. Was he really that much of a fuck-up? He could hear a vent hiss somewhere behind him, but couldn’t really bring himself to look up. He did recognize the footsteps though. It was Minho. The realization caused him to perk up just a little but, lifting his head and dropping the teaspoon against the rim of his cup. It made little clinking sound. 

“I saw Changbin in the hallway,” Minho said coolly. “He was checking the belts.”

“I told him to.” Chan lifted the cup to his lips and took a swig. The coffee was still too hot to drink, undoubtedly burning his tongue.  
Minho hummed in response. He was busy unbuttoning his jacket, and Chan could hear the telltale sound of fabric rustling as he hung it on one of the hooks by the door. Not much later, the sound of boots thumping against the floor as he threw them down. Soft, sock-clad footsteps echoed over the bridge as he came towards the table.

“What’s wrong darling?” Minho asked as he gently lifted one of Chan’s curls to tuck them behind his ear. 

“I just…” Chan stopped. “I guess I feel like it’s my fault?” 

“Oh.” Minho pulled out a chair and sat down cross-legged. “It isn’t though. Don’t tell anyone I said this, but it is Hyunjin’s fault.”

“But I’m responsible for our crew.” Chan took another sip of coffee, this time being more careful as to not burn his tongue even more. 

“That doesn’t mean you have to take the blame for everything that goes wrong,” Minho chastised. “You didn’t take the blame when I violated rules by flying high to the hangar, so why would you now?”

“Because Hyunjin was in danger. You know how to fly. You’re a flying genius. It’s different. Plus, this is his first mission, and I hate that he’s already gotten hurt.”

“He’ll be okay though, right?”

“Jeongin said so, yes.”

“See? Then we have nothing to worry about. Just relax for a bit. You can talk to Hyunjin later.”

“That’s the whole point,” Chan scoffed. “I can’t relax.”

“Then let me help?” Minho tilted his head just a little.

“Minho—”

“Shh.” Minho placed a finger against his lips, before gently pressing down on them, pulling his bottom lip down a bit. Chan forgot to breathe for a second. Sometimes he almost forgot how much he missed Minho’s mischievous tendencies. And he had to admit, after not seeing him on earth for a while, he definitely was glad to see good old Minho back.

“Minho we can’t—”

“I know.” Minho smiled brightly and pulled his finger back. He slammed his hands down on the table and jumped up. “We’re playing UNO!”


	9. 05102147

### LOG-009

 _[Unintelligible.]_ The party yesterday was insane… Fres said he’d never been to a plains-folk fest before, so I showed him exactly what he was missing. _[Unintelligible because of background voices.]_ …he says he didn’t like that we worshipped in this way, but also admitted he really liked the drinks. He’s a good guy… _[Unintelligible.]_ …comms are still going wild. An elder says she still remembers when we sent out the Hello Universes. Man, I wish I was there when that happened. We still haven’t managed to decode and translate anything though. I wonder if they’re coming to us.

### CREW ARMS COMMANDER HWANG HYUNJIN

Everything was way too bright when Hyunjin woke up. Just like last time, he had to squint against the overhead lamps, cursing the way they were positioned. His leg was still elevated, though it hurt more than last time. The anesthetics had probably worn off. How long had he been asleep since Jeongin told him to sleep? He had no idea. Somewhere by his bed, soft beeping was to be heard, and he wondered if his heartbeat was steady. His lower back hurt. He tried to shift his position a bit but ended up putting pressure on his ankle, making him hiss out in pain. Immediately, one of the curtains surrounding him was ripped open.

“Good morning,” Jeongin said. “Don’t move.”

“My butt hurts,” Hyunjin retorted, as if that was a valid argument to counter a trained medic’s instructions.

“Don’t care, didn’t ask. Sit still. We’ve put your leg in a splint, but it’s not smart to move yet.”

“I feel stiff.” Hyunjin lifted his arms up high and stretched his torso.

“You’ve been in the same position for a day now, of course you feel stiff.”

“I slept for a whole day?”

“It’s the fifth. Three in the afternoon.”

“Oh my God—” Hyunjin began, but Jeongin cut him off.

“We put you under though, so it’s not a big surprise.”

“Oh…”

“Also, our Captain wants to speak to you. So does our Engineer.”

“Chan and Changbin hyung?”

“Yes. Should I call them over?” Jeongin pointed at the phone he was holding.

“Please do. I feel like it’s best not to keep them waiting.”

Jeongin nodded and began tapping away at his screen.

It didn’t take long for the infirmary doors to slide open an the quite powerful presence of Bang Chan to enter. It was quite a sigh to see, Hyunjin had to admit. He had phenomenal posture and wide shoulders. Honestly, Hyunjin didn’t think he’d ever been so scared of a man shorter than him. That was, until Changbin entered. It was the exact same vibe, and it made Hyunjin want to run. (Except he couldn’t because he had a splint on his leg and if he tried to move he’d probably get scolded by Jeongin, which he also didn’t want.)

“Hyunjin!” Chan called when they met eyes. He walked over with that frighteningly powerful pace and sat down on the edge of the bed. It made Hyunjin hiss as a spike of pain shot up his leg, and Jeongin immediately perked up.

“No sitting on taken beds!”

“Oh…” Chan stood up sheepishly, instead taking place on the neighboring bed next to Changbin. “Sorry…”

Jeongin huffed. “You wanted to talk to Hyunjin. Do your thing.”

“Yeah…” Chan scratched the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry,” Changbin said before the elder could even start. “I should’ve woken you up and everything. I thought you’d get up by yourself and figure out where the takeoff seats were, but—” 

“You’re sorry?” Hyunjin and Chan asked at the same time. They looked at each other, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

“Oh my God,” Jeongin muttered before making a hand gesture and walking away. “I’ll give you three some space.”

“As a Captain,” Chan said, “It is my duty to take responsibility. I shouldn’t have let this happen, sorry.”

“It’s my fault though?” Hyunjin said. “I mean, I was the one that got stuck between that fucking door—”

“Yeah, but we could’ve prevented it,” Changbin retorted.

“So could I have? It’s my broken leg?!”

“That doesn’t mean it’s completely your fault! I sleep in the same room as you and you told us you have trouble waking up and sleep through your alarms sometimes but I still didn’t wake you up and that’s on me.” 

“…Changbin.” Chan stared at him. “Can you please shut the fuck up?”

“You were the only one that actually got up to help me,” Hyunjin pointed out. “That in itself is pretty redeeming, right?”

“Exactly,” Chan said. “If it wasn’t for you, he’d be off worse.”

“It’s my duty to help people when I can,” Changbin simply said. “But you guys are missing my point. If I had been smarter, this whole thing wouldn’t’ve happened.”

“That goes for all of us, hyung,” Hyunjin said. “But ultimately it’s my responsibility to not break my leg.”

“Just accept his apology,” Chan said with a hand on his forehead, “before he gives me a proper migraine. He’s stubborn and probably won’t shut up until you do.”  
Changbin was about to sputter something in protest when Hyunjin spoke up again.

“Fine. I accept your apology, hyung. Yours too, Captain. Now can I please go back to bed? Your yelling has given me a headache.” It had, actually. There was a throbbing pain at the back of his head.

“That’s just the spot where you hit your head!” Jeongin yelled from across the room, causing multiple nurses to shush him. “Sorry—I told you not to move too much!”

Hyunjin groaned and sunk back into his pillow. He felt like something was wrong… like, apart from his leg fracture and head injury. Oh… his meds.

“Jeongin?!” 

“Hm?” Jeongin walked over to his bed again. 

“Do you have the meds that I have to take every morning?”

“Are they prescription?”

Hyunjin tried to nod, instead resorting to a simple ‘yes’ when his head started hurting again. 

“I’ll go get them. Where do you keep them?”

“Bedside drawer. White pill case with days on it.”

“Gotcha.” Jeongin turned to Chan and Changbin. “You two should go too. We’re not too keen on visitors staying for a long time, plus you have duties to attend to other than bothering my patient. Now, let’s go.”

### CREW COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER KIM SEUNGMIN

Seungmin had always been a boy of many languages. Growing up, he’d only learned Hangul at school, but soon he’d found out about other alphabets: Latin, Arabic, Kanji, Hanzi, Cyrillic, Hellenic, Runic… he wanted to learn all of them. He used to spend days and days making up his own languages, writing and talking in them until someone called him down for dinner. As a teenager, he took his opportunity to learn Japanese, English, and Chinese. At USEA SK, he’d taken additional morse and sign language classes. Still, there was one language he hadn’t learned yet. One language that spoke to him more than any other.

And it wasn’t a spoken or a written language, in all honesty. It wasn’t a sign language either. It was a very particular kind of silence. Specifically the one that hung between the stars on the nights that he’d spend outside as a kid. It would leave him wondering what people on other planets used to communicate. Wondering what it meant when a star flickered, or when a seemingly new one appeared. It was the silence that hung in those moments that he wanted to understand more than anything in the world. And now, finally, he was in space. He was surrounded by that silence, engulfed in it as he watched the earth get smaller through a window of Atlas II’s auditorium.

Someone tapped the microphone on the auditorium’s stage. Seungmin spun around to face the woman. She looked like a professional, short curls and eyes that had seen a lot, the body language of someone wise beyond their years. Still, she couldn’t be older than in her early forties, judging from her physique. She was dressed in an UNSA uniform, adorned with medals and a flag that Seungmin recognized but couldn’t quite place. (Kenya? It could’ve been Kenya, honestly. It was hard to tell from where he was standing anyways.) There even seemed to be a tattoo peeking out from her collar, something no regular crewmate could ever get away with.

“Hello Communications Crew of ESC-2 Atlas II. I will be your captain on this long journey to come. We’re following in the footsteps of Atlas the first, exploring the universe on a noble quest for knowledge. So far, it’s been smooth sailing, with a few exceptions—” Seungmin could swear she made eye contact with him on that “—but we are determined to not let those things hold us back. After all, we are a crew on a mission! And not just that… you and I, people gathered here in this room, most skilled linguists and polyglots in UNSA ranks, will soon be some of the first humans to hear, and the firsts to attempt to decipher what we think is a recording from planet IWP-O-1. The very planet Atlas I was set out to visit, and where the anomaly is that we will be searching for!”

A type of tension washed over the auditorium. Seungmin held his breath. An alien recording. It felt surreal, like this was some kind of dream of his five year-old self. As if he’d wake up at any moment, staring at his ceiling plastered with glow-in-the-dark stars, and then desperately try to go back to sleep to continue the dream. He was on the verge of living his biggest dream. The language from between the stars existed, and he was going to hear it. 

“But first!” the Captain announced, “We shall take a moment to say farewell to our planet earth, to the green grass and blue skies, the hot sand and the cold snow. That we may return safe and well, to see our families healthy and our houses intact. That we may find what we search in outer space. To Atlas II!” 

She raised a fist into the air. Seungmin followed the gesture, saying it together with all other Communications Officers. “To Atlas II!”


End file.
